Lucy Punch Leads Television Show List of 2026 Best So Far
’s television show list of the best TV of 2026 so far puts Lucy Punch’s Am I Being Unreasonable? alongside a lighter Westeros spin-off, Riz Ahmed’s Bait, and a 90-minute Blitz documentary. It is a critic-led snapshot of what has already cut through in 2026, not a year-end clean-up.
Lucy Punch and Amanda
Lucy Punch’s second-series turn as Amanda gives the list its sharpest comic edge. Punch created one of the better TV antiheroes in years through a divorced middle-class mum who is also an influencer and a kitchen shop worker, while Philippa Dunne plays her longsuffering friend and dogsbody Anne and Joanna Lumley appears as her overbearing mother.
"Amanda slots neatly into a lineage of British comedy icons; file her next to the delusional, narcissistic, indefatigable likes of Alan Partridge and David Brent." That line places the character in a familiar British comedy lane without blunting her edge. For viewers, the practical takeaway is simple: the series is built around a central performance, not a broad ensemble drift.
Dunk, Egg, and Bait
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms arrives on the list as a lighter, funnier Westeros spin-off from HBO Max, centered on Ser Dunk and Egg as they prepare for the tourney. Dunk is chasing his dream of becoming a knight, but the series still pushes into gore and then a Targaryen twist that sends things into a blood-soaked spiral.
"Bait overcomes any viewer skepticism by rooting the silly fun of set-pieces such as the Bond fight send-up in an emotionally authentic family drama." The film stars Riz Ahmed, with Patrick Stewart voicing a dead pig’s head and Guz Khan playing an entrepreneur trying to disrupt the taxi market with Muber, described as the Muslim Uber. That mix gives the project a stronger commercial hook than a straight spoof.
iPlayer and Blitz
A 90-minute iPlayer documentary about Blitz survivors widens the list beyond drama and comedy. It spoke to survivors from all corners of the British Isles, and its account of childhood trauma lasting a lifetime sits alongside stories of resilience and redemption.
"A huge story is told via dozens of tiny, shattering personal reflections." That framing fits the documentary’s sharpest pressure point: Patsy Moneypenny died between filming and broadcast. The result is a record of testimony that now carries an added finality, especially in a year when surviving witnesses to the Blitz are already among the oldest living participants in British wartime memory.
For readers, the list works less like a ranking than a buying guide for attention. Punch’s return, the Westeros offshoot, Ahmed’s semi-autobiographical genre play, and the Blitz documentary each offer a different reason to watch, but the common thread is clearer: 2026 has already produced television that critics think deserves to stay in the conversation.
